The prime minister has had to take a commercial flight to Australia after a "maintenance fault" was discovered on the Defence Force plane he was meant to take.
Christopher Luxon is en route to Melbourne to meet with Southeast Asian leaders.
He was due to take off from the Royal New Zealand Air Force base at Rongotai at 6am this morning.
The prime minister has had to take a commercial flight to Australia after a "maintenance fault" was discovered on the Defence Force plane he was meant to take.
Christopher Luxon is en route to Melbourne to meet with Southeast Asian leaders.
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He was due to take off from the Royal New Zealand Air Force base at Rongotai at 6am this morning.
The prime minister has had to take a commercial flight to Australia after a "maintenance fault" was discovered on the Defence Force plane he was meant to take.
Christopher Luxon is en route to Melbourne to meet with Southeast Asian leaders.
He was due to take off from the Royal New Zealand Air Force base at Rongotai at 6am this morning.
One of the 757s also broke down in May 2022 during a trip to the US by former PM Jacinda Ardern.
It also broke down at least once for former prime minister John Key in 2016. Ardern also hitched a ride with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau from the Queen's funeral in October 2022 to a world leaders' meeting due to the 757's limited range.
